


Warm

by 1DE3shipper



Series: 100 Writing Prompts [92]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Coming Out, Cuddling, Fluff, Happy Ending, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Running Away, Sad, Tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-17
Updated: 2014-05-17
Packaged: 2018-01-25 11:26:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1646960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1DE3shipper/pseuds/1DE3shipper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Zayn!" He shouted again.  "Baby, where are you?  Shit, where are you?" Liam felt the tears starting again and pulled over reluctantly because between the water on the windshield and the water in his eyes there was no way he could see clearly.  "Where are you?" He whispered into the steering wheel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warm

Liam paced back and forth nervously, checking his phone every ten seconds for a text, a call, _anything_ to tell him his boyfriend was okay. When Zayn had told Liam he was thinking of coming out to his parents, Liam had been proud, obviously, but also very nervous for the smaller boy. Zayn's family was very conservative and traditional and Zayn had told him on many occasions what his father thought about gays. Needless to say, both boys were more than slightly anxious. Liam had offered to go with him but Zayn had said he wanted to do it by himself, which is how Liam ended up walking around his room worriedly. 

On what must have been his thousandth lap, Liam heard his phone vibrate against his desk and had it up to his ear in less than a second.

"Hello?" He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Liam? It's Doniya." Shit. Why was Zayn's sister calling on his phone? He immediately assumed the worst and could feel his breathing pick up dramatically.

"Where is he?" Liam asked in a panic.

"I...I don't know Liam," she sounded as panicked as Liam felt. "He...he told them and they didn't take it too well and I was listening from the stairs and there was yelling and he just ran out. Left his phone and everything. Liam, I'm worried about him. You have to help me find him." 

Tears were forming in Liam's eyes as he let out a shaky breath before agreeing to look for the missing boy and hanging up the phone. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, he couldn't breath. He started to sob and it must have been loud enough that his mum heard and poked her head in the door to find him balled up against his bed, body shaking with emotion.

"Liam?" she gasped. "What happened?"

"Zayn..." he choked out. "He told his parents...about u-us...a-a-and he-e ran away. He-e's gon-ne." Liam's mother gave a sympathetic whimper and sat down next to him to comfort her son. Liam's parents had been supportive from the beginning and Liam had always been able to be open with them about his relationship with Zayn. He loved it but after hearing what had happened to Zayn, he appreciated his parents even more.

"I'm so sorry, baby," she murmured calmly.

"I have to go find him," Liam asserted. Just then, thunder crashed outside and Liam groaned. Zayn was out the by himself and terrified of thunderstorms and Liam _had_ to find him. 

"Take the car," his mother instructed. Liam nodded and hopped up, downstairs and out the door in less than a minute. He shot a quick text to Doniya telling her that he was out looking and to keep him posted if she heard anything and shifted his parents' car out of park. He rolled down the window enough that he could shout out of it but rain was getting in and all Liam could do was drive faster and shout louder and pray harder that his boyfriend was okay.

"Zayn!" He shouted again. "Baby, where are you? Shit, where are you?" Liam felt the tears starting again and pulled over reluctantly because between the water on the windshield and the water in his eyes there was no way he could see clearly. "Where are you?" he whispered into the steering wheel. Liam was honestly at a loss. He had been driving for almost an hour and the town wasn't that big. He couldn't have gotten very far, anyways, but Zayn was nowhere to be found.

Liam sat there crying for about ten minutes before composing himself enough to check his messages. There was one from Doniya, saying that she was looking with her mum but they hadn't seen him yet, one from his mum saying that she had called around to their friends asking them to keep an eye out, and one from Harry and Louis, suggesting that he check the tree. _Of course._ "The tree", as they called it, had been Liam, Harry, and Niall's hiding place since they were six and had become their official hangout of sorts when they met Louis and Zayn in year 10. Zayn and Liam had even had their first kiss in that tree. Liam had always gone there to be by himself or to think, an outlet Zayn had later adopted, even though the smaller boy couldn't climb it by himself. It made perfect sense that Zayn would go there and Liam was mentally kicking himself for not having thought of it sooner. 

The rain was coming down in sheets now, thunder still making itself known every minute or so, and Liam was getting more and more worried with each passing moment as he drove well over the speed limit to the creek at the edge of town. He parked his car on the side of the road and jogged through the sopping grass to the tree. At first, he didn't see anything and was about to turn around to keep looking when an weak whimper broke through the silence and Liam sprinted toward the source on the other side if the tree. He caught a glimpse of maroon–Zayn's sweatshirt–and nearly sobbed with relief. 

"Zayn," gasped at the older boy, curled in on himself and soaking wet under the poor cover of the tree.

"Liam," Zayn looked up, startled. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, you idiot," Liam smiled fondly at his boyfriend before crouching down to pick up the shaking teenager, which he did easily.

"Mm," Zayn buried his face into his boyfriend's neck. "So warm, Li. 'M so cold."

"I know, baby," Liam mumbled sympathetically. "Almost to the car. We can go home."

"Don't wanna go home," Zayn whimpered. "Wanna stay with you. They don't want me at home, don't want me contaminating their house." Liam could have punched anyone who dared tell Zayn he was anything less than perfect, but he tried to channel the anger at Zayn's father into love for the boy in his arms. He climbed into the backseat with Zayn still holding on to him and texted Doniya that he had found him before switching off his phone and turning his full attention to the boy who probably hadn't stopped crying in over an hour.

"So warm," Zayn mumbled again, nuzzling at the side of Liam's face. "Love you."

"I love you too, Zaynie," Liam said seriously. "So much."

"What am I going to do, LiLi?" Zayn asked pathetically. "I can't go home anymore. I can never set foot in that house again. I can never see my sisters again. I don't have anything anymore."

"Hey, don't say that," Liam scrunched his eyebrows and held the side if Zayn's face so that the other boy was looking right into his eyes. "You've got me, yeah? I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I'll always love you. You're coming home with me now, okay? I'm gonna take care of you. Forever, if you'll let me. Yeah?"

Zayn's tear-filled eyes brightened slightly and he offered a weak smile as he nodded and Liam pressed a light kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "Forever," Zayn whispered. Liam had to disentangle himself from the other boy in order to drive home but had the other boy in his arms again as soon as the ignition was off.   
He carried Zayn, now asleep, up to his room after shouting a greeting to his mum. He took off Zayn's wet sweatshirt and jeans and clothed him in his own flannel shirt and sweats. Zayn blinked awake when Liam tucked them both into bed and pressed his lips to Liam's cheek.

"Thanks," he said shyly, biting at his lip in that adorable way he did when he was nervous.

"Shh, just go to sleep, babe," Liam wrapped an arm protectively around the other boy's torso and kissed the top of Zayn's head twice.

"Li?"

"Hm?"

"When you said forever...did you mean it?"

"Of course I meant it, love. I'll always be here and I'll always be yours, as long as you want me. I promise."

"Okay," Zayn yawned sleepily. "I want you forever, too, 'cause I love you so much. So much." Even after everything that had happened, Liam was able to sleep with a smile on his face because forever sounded like a pretty good thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!


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